US pre-open: Stocks mixed as US-Sino relations back in focus
Wall Street futures had stocks opening mostly higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday as US-Sino tensions came back into focus and market participants looked ahead to earnings from Microsoft and Tesla.
As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were down 0.33% and 0.26% lower, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.21%.
The Dow closed 159.53 points higher on Tuesday as investors monitored talks between lawmakers in Washington regarding another economic relief package.
As far as Wednesday was concerned, relations between Washington and Beijing were weighing on sentiment before the open as news broke that the White House had ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close amid brewing tensions between the pair in relation to China's treatment of Hong Kong.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the action and warned of firm countermeasures.
A warning from Donald Trump that the Covid-19 pandemic would likely "get worse before it gets better" also tempered sentiment on the Street.
The coronavirus has now infected more than 3.8m Americans and claimed the lives of at least 141,118.
On the macro front, total mortgage application volume rose 4.1% week-on-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $510,400 or less grew to 3.20% from 3.19%. Refinance application volume was up 5% for the week and up 122% year-on-year.
Still to come, May's house price index will be published at 1400 BST, while existing home sales figures will be released at 1500 BST.
In corporate news, Unite Airlines shares were flying lower after reporting a $1.62bn second-quarter loss, while shares in Snap lost ground overnight after reporting that its second-quarter loss had widened from $255m to $326m.
Biogen and Baker Hughes will report on Wednesday, while Tesla, Chipotle, Microsoft and CSX will all post second-quarter earnings after the close.